Caller who told NH people they had jury duty was a prankster

By JAMES A. KIMBLEUnion Leader CorrespondentNovember 06. 2013 9:01PMA prank caller tried to get at least four people to come to county courthouses in Brentwood and Nashua over the weekend, telling people who picked up the phone that they had failed to appear for jury duty.

The male prankster apparently called people at random late Thursday night, according to Carole Alfano, public information officer for the New Hampshire Judicial Branch.

They were told to report to their local county courthouses at 9 a.m. on Saturday. One person was specifically told to report to Hillsborough County Superior Court–South, in Nashua, according to Alfano. Chief Justice Tina Nadeau, head of the state superior court system, didn’t find the caller’s ruse so funny. She decided to post notices at the state’s 11 county courthouses, warning people about the prank calls.

Skipping out on jury duty in New Hampshire is no laughing matter. People who receive a jury summons in the mail can be convicted of a misdemeanor if they fail to appear.

No one showed up at any of the 11 county courthouses on Saturday in response to the pranks, Alfano said.

Deputy Gross mysteriously disappeared when he went to Barre to collect $250 from a man found liable in a civil matter. The next day the deputies car was found in a wooded area east of Barre. The man...